Personal Training in QLD

Personal Training in New Zealand

Nutrition Myth Busting - Part 1*

Wednesday, 25 May 2016, By Keenan Mowat

Myth 1: The healthiest diet is a low-fat, diet with lots
of grains.

Several decades ago, nutrition and medical advisors educated the
population to opt for a low-fat, high-carb diet. At the time, not a
single scientific study had actually demonstrated that this diet
provided any form of disease prevention. In the years following
this time, many high quality studies have demonstrated that this
way of eating does not cause weight loss, prevent cancer or reduce
the risk of heart disease as it was for so many years claimed to
do. The conclusion that was drawn after many studies on the topic
is that a low-fat, high-carb diet has virtually no effect on body
weight or disease risk over the long term.

Myth 2: Eating fat makes you fat/eat less fat to lose
body fat.

Subcutaneous fat is the soft pudgy stuff that is stored under
our skin that we all dislike and wish to get rid of, therefore it
would seem logical that eating fat in our diets would give us more
of this stored fat. This however, is far from the truth, and it
depends entirely on the context. For example, diets that are high
in fat as well as carbohydrates have been shown to increase stored
body fat, but this isn't entirely the fault of the fat. Studies
have demonstrated that diets high in fat but low in carbs
consistently lead to more weight loss than low-fat diets, even in
the cases where low-fat test groups had restricted caloric intakes.
The bottom line is that the fattening effects of dietary fat
depends entirely on whether there is excess amount of carbohydrates
also present in the diet. A diet that is high in fat but low in
carbs has been demonstrated as the most effective means of
achieving weight loss when compared to simply low-fat diets, even
when calories are restricted.

Although it is true that people with pre-existing kidney disease
should cut back on protein, this is absolutely not true for the
rest of the otherwise healthy population. There is a vast amount of
evidence showing no detrimental effect on health from high protein
diets. In fact, a higher protein intake has been shown to lower
blood pressure and helps fight type 2 diabetes which are
coincidentally two of the main risk factors for kidney failure.
Higher protein diets have also been attributed to reducing appetite
and thus supporting weight loss.